Results were compiled from “hundreds of thousands” of online search queries by consumers in the UK, USA and Australia, including searches on about 3.5 million smartphones and tablets.

Not surprisingly, location-based retail searches are predominantly from mobile devices: 84% of “where to buy …” queries were on mobile devices; 79% of “near me” queries were mobile.

Why should you care?

While the trend is not unexpected, of more interest to search advertisers wanting to set appropriate device-level bids were Hitwise’s reports on the types of queries by device.

Some 77% of searches that included the terms “coupon”, “return policy” and “price match” were from smartphones and tablets. “Sale” and “discount” were also more likely to figure in mobile users’ searches, with only 27% and 32% of searches, respectively, occurring on desktops.

Conversely, 59% of searches including “promo code” occurred on desktops.

In addition, Hitwise reports that 82% of retail searches with the word “reviews” are made on a smartphone or tablet, and 82% of searches for “engagement rings” are made on a mobile device.